drake



spt. s, 19125. i y Re. 16,160

R. Z. DRAKE UNLOADING MACHINE Original Filed'Dec. 1. '1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 8, 1925. R. z. DRAKE UNLOADING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original FilecLDe'c. l,k 1922 R. Z. DRAKE UNLOADINGL MACHINE Sept; 8, 1925.

lOriginal Filed Dec. 1, 1922 4 Sheetsheet 5 Sept. 8, 1925.

R. '2. DRAKE UNLOADING MACHINE Orizinal Filed Dec- 1. 1922 -4 Sheets-sheet 4.

Iulmllismm Reissue'd Sept. 8, 1925.

UNITED STATES ROBERT z, DRAKE, or OMAHA, NEBRASKA.

UNLoADrNG MACHINE.

Original No. 1,472,054,- dated y To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT Z. DRAKE, ak citizen of the United Stat-es, residing at Qmaha, inv the county of Douglas and A State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and, useful Improvements in an Unloading" Machine, of which the following is asspecica'tion.

This invention relates to a machine for use in unloading lumber. lhile the machine could be used for other purposes, it is particularly useful for unloading` lumber from the hanger bars shown and described in U. Sl patent application filed by this app licant October 5, 1922, for lumber moving and storage means, Serial No. 592,459 now Patent No. 1,471,149, dated Oct. 16, 1923.

The object. of the present invention, broadly, isto provide a machine by use of which,

planks, boards or other kinds of lumber may `be conveniently and quickly unloaded from the hanger bars and removed from a seasoning house by a single operator. Further objects, advantages and capabilities will later more fully appear.

The no-vel and useful features of the in-V vention are fully described herein, and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein, i

Fig. 1 is a. view ofthe machine in side elevation, one of the carrier supports at the side of Athe machine being' removed, the machine being Ashown in connection with a plurality of hanger bars.

Fig. 2 is an end view of the machine, the plates forl supporting a pair of carriers being in section.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the parts shown in Eig. 2. i

Fig. 4V is a sectionalr view showing the mounting of a catch for a hanger bar.

v:Figa 5 is a broken view, artly in section, showing the inner ends o a'pair of toggle bars mounted on a nut. y

Fig, 6 is a. side view of the toggle-bars shown in Fig. 5.

TheI invention is described in connection with a plurality ot hanger bars 4' adapted to be supported and maintained in a vertical position by any suitable means, said bars having any desired length and arranged in sections Z9 (Fig. 2.), the distance apart for the bars of leach section, as shown herein, 4 being nearly equal to the width of the maai chine, and the .distance apart of the bars Cil October 30, 1923, Serial No. 604,173, iled December 1, 1922; Application for reissue filed August 3, 1925. Serial No. 48,000.

of one section fromy thev barsA of an adjacent section being approximately equal to the thickness of the planks 5 orl other fibrous strips which may be: supported by the bars of the sections Asbest shown in Figs. 2 and 3, a pair of stationary, horizontal, parallel plates 6 lare provided upon which, are disposed movable carriers 7, the latter, in the present instance beingv cables adapted to be moved by any suitable means in the direction indicated by the arrow shown in Fig'. 1. However, chains or other flexible members ma be substituted for the cables, if desired. pair of track railsl are indicated at 8, and the carrierplates 6 are disposed in a plane above the track rails and may be supported by any suitable means, the means herein shown beposts 9. Numerals 10v indicate apair of horizontal, apertured lockingstrips which are secured to the posts, at the inner sides thereof, adjacent to the carrier-plates 6.

All of the parts thus' described are clear- Aly shown and are fully described in the copending pat-ent application first mentioned, and in said application meansare also shown for moving the lumber upwardly', while disposed horizontally, to be supported, with their edges in engagement, by the hanger bars of the several sections b.

In order that the lumber, after it has become seasoned, may be removed conveniently and without injury from the hanger bars lof the. sections b and that the work may be done quickly by a single operator, I provide mechanism, consisting of a carriage o-r car and parts mounted thereon, now to be described.

The frame 11 of the car may be of any desired construction, having such a width that it may be moved between the carrierplates 6, and having .a skid-supporting plate 12 disposed transversely of the car above the plates 6, and Aprovided with upwardly projecting guides lt should vbe `explained that each hanger bar 4 is providedwith aA chamber 13 opening on one ot its sides, near its lower end (Fig. 4,) adapted to receive a spring 14, the lower part of the spring being bent upu'far'dly and outwardly to form a` catch 15, these parts being ot strong construction since the weight ot several planks supported by each tion b must be sustained by the catches 15. Also it will be understood that a movement of th? CQECbQS 1 5 inwardly of the Sham bers 13 will permit the planks to slide downwardly, from the hanger bars, upon the carriers 7.

Numerals 16 indicate a pair of skid blocks, eac-h being secured to the plate 12, the latter being adequately supported by parts of the machine frame, as by braces a and al,

and by uprights c, the skid blocks prefer-v ably having concave surfaces Z (Fig. 1) tending to decrease excessive shocks which otherwise might result by the impact of the moving planks when released from the hanger bars of a section b, said concave surface also controlling the direction of movement of the released planks.

In order that the planks may be released from the hanger-bars of a section b a movable releasing-plate 17 is employed, said plate being provided with staples 18 for receiving' the guides m, and provided at each end with a sleeve or socket 19 disposed below and in the plane of a hanger-bar; and it will be understood that if the releasingplate has an upward sliding movement on the guides m the lower parts of the hangerbars of a section may be received by the sockets 19, the latter operating to press the catches inwardly of the chambers 13 for releasing the planks from said catches. Since the catches are formed downwardly convergent they are readily received by the sleeves or sockets. l

It will be seen that eac-h hanger-bar is provided at one o1 its sides and lower end with a reduced part or recess 20, and each socket 19 is of such form or proportion that one of its walls willv engage in a recess 2() during the movements of the releasing-plate so that the catch will be moved into a recess 13 and that the walls of the socket will not obtrude/and will not prevent a tree downward sliding movement of the planks.

Any suitable means may be provided for moving the releasing-plate vertically, the means shown herein consisting, in part, of toggle-bars arranged in pairs, indicated at 21 and 22, the inner ends of each pair being pivotally mounted on a nut 23, the latter being provided with trunnions 211 (F ig. 5) for said mounting. The upper togglebar of each pair is pivotally mounted, as indicated at e upon the releasing-plate, and the lower toggle-bar of each pair is pivotally mounted, as indicated at f upon a bracket 25, said brackets being secured to the lower part of the machine frame as best shown in F ig. 2.

Numeral 26 indicates an operating shaft having reversely threaded end-portions engaging in the nuts 23 and provided with a hand wheel 27, and it will be understood that an operator by use of the wheel 27 may rotate the shaft in one direction to elevate the releasing-plate for unloading' the planks from ,the hanger-bars of section. b, and

may cause a rotation of the shaft in a reverse direction for moving the releasingplate downwardly to its normal position adjacent to the skid-supporting plate 12.

Any suitable means may be provided for maintaining the machine or car in a stationary position during the operation of unloading the planks from the hanger-bars of a section c, the means herein shown being apair of rods 28 adapted to engage in the apertures 101 or" the locking-strips 10, said rods 28 being movable by a hand-lever 29 which is pivoted, as indicated at g, between its ends upon a plate 291, apertured brackets 30 y being mounted on the machine frame near the strips 10 for supporting said rods.

It will be understood that the apertures 101 are formed in the strips 10 at uniform longitudinal vintervals thereof, the distance apart from the apertures 101 being equal to the distance apart of the hanger-bars of the several sections b measured from their longitudinal middle; and during operation, after the planks have been unloaded from one section b of hanger-bars, the links, by use of the hand-lever 29 are then removed from the apertures 101. The machine is then moved a limited distance, by any suitable means, in the direction indicated by the arrow shown in Fig. 1, to permit the rods 28 to engage in apertures 101 next adjacent to those from which the rods wereV removed the sockets or sleeves of the releasing plate l?, by this operation, being disposed in the vertical plane of the hanger-bars ot a section b which has not been unloaded; and when thus disposed the releasing-plate may be elevated for unloading the planks therefrom.

It will be appreciated that in some in.w stances, disengagement of the catches of the hanger-bars of a section trom the lowermost plank may not be simultaneous, one end being detained while the opposite end is moving. Also it is desirable that the planks when engaged by the carriers should be disposed at right angles thereto. Any suit-able means may he employed for controlling the movements of the planks which slide downwardly for engaging the carriers and to cause the planks to be disposed at right angles to said carriers, the means shown herein consisting in part of a pair of stop-levers 31, these levers being disposed inwardly ot and near a skid-block 10, and each being pivotally mounted between its ends, as indicated at k, upon an upright c of the machine frame` said levers being provided at their front ends with projections lc.

The stop-levers 31 are adapted to have swinging movements to dispose their projections ,t' in a plane above the carriers 7 for engagement 'with the planks when the latter are released from the hanger-bars; also, under cont-rol of an operator, the levers l31 may have coincident swinging movements to dispose their projeetians la in a plane below the carrier .i7 to permit :the planks thus-released to bermove-d by 'said carriers.-

Numeral 32 indicates a horizontal shaft having bearings-in brackets .3.3 which are Secured tothe machine frame, said shaft being provided Witha gfootlever '34 for its ro- 1 with a stop-lever Blandan arm and as described, `the Wei lit-block 3,5 .operates to swing the free `en. s vofthe ystop-leversr np- Qwardly with vits projections normallyl disposed above the plane of the carriers 7A; and a fdownwardkmovement of the foot-lever 34 will move :the .levers 131 to cause the projections ato be disposed ina `plane below the carriers?. Numeral 38 (Figs.v 2, 3,) indicates a bracket which 4may support the Weight-block ,35 and which operates to limit the upward swinging movement of the front ends of v'tzlle'vzatoplevers and their projections k.'

The parts thus described,` While of simple construction, `cooperate to-great advanvtage `for unloading-theplanks. Vhen the operating-shaft 26 is :rotated in one direcn tion the toggle-,bars will neoveinwardly :upon the shaft 26, the nuts 23 moving therewith' to cau-se lthe releasing-plate' to move upwardly, itswstaples 18- sliding on the- ;guides iuntilthe lower ends `of :the hangen bars of .asection' b 'a-regreoceived by the sleeves 19, one of theivall-s of'ealch' sleeve entering na recess 20 of .a-vhainger-bar, a further up- ,svard movement of thelreleasing-plate cansingdisengagement of vthe catches from :the planlnthe resultfbeing that all of the planks supported bythe hanger bars of said sectionv will 4slide1.downwa-rdly, the lowermost .plank being caught -by Vtheprojections of the stop-lowers 31, which operates to terminat-e,temporarily., any further movement of the planks, and operating to dispose the planks at right-angles to the carriers 7.

The .openaitor then, by use of the footl-ever 34, causes disengagement of the ,pro-

jections 7c rom the plank, and all of thev planks `thus' unloaded Will :engage and will be conducted away by the carriers 7L The machine is ',thenU-moved forwardly to the Vnext section. -b of loaded hanger bars, and the operation may be repeated until allof the sections are unloaded, the hand.- lever 29 being used, as heretofore explained for causing the rods :2,8 ito `engage vin aper-v tures 101 of :the stri-ps 10, to maintain the machine .in a stationary position before the releasing plate 17 is moved upwardly.v

It will be understood that while the ac companying drawings illustrate the preferred embodiment of the invention, lchanges may be made and other equivalent means employed than speoiiieally described, without departing from the spirit of invenf tion. i

I claim as my invention,-

1. In an unloading machine for loaded hanger bars, said bars being provided .with

catches for supporting the. load, a carriage,

a releasing-plate on the carriage movable therefrom to engage the Acatches for releasino' the load. y

2. ii an unloading machine -for a plurality of loaded lhanger bars, said vbars being provided Wit-h resiliently mounted catches for supporting the 1oada releasing-plate movable from the carriage .to coincidently actuate the catches of said hanger bars for releasing the load.

3. In an unloading `machine for' loaded hanger bars, said bars being provided with ycatches for normally engaging-the load .and the machine being provided with guides, a

releasing-plate adapted to slide upwardly 2 on the guides and to engage said catches for disengaging them 'from the load.

4. In an unloading machine r'for loaded hanger bars, said barsI being provided with catches: engaging :the load, ay carriage below the hanger bars, skid-blocks stationary with the carriage, and a releasingsplate moi/'able from' the carriage into engagement with the catches fordisengaging said catches 'from thje load to permit the loadftoum-ove nponthe skid-blocks. A

In an unloadingA machine ytor loaded hanger bia-11ssaid bars bein-g provided Wi-ih catches normally vv,in ,engagement with the load, a carriage below the hanger .ba-rs and provided withsirid-blocfks, areleasing-plate onthe carriage, means to maintain the carlabove a part `of .a skid-block, a releasingplate on .the carriage, means for moving the releasing-plate into engagement .with the catches for disengaging the catches from the load to permit said load ,to move upon the skid-blocks, .and means for disengaging the stop-levers `from the load.

7. 'The ,combination with a. plurality of? ,upright hanger-.bars each being' provided near its lower end with a resilientlymounted catch for engaging a load, of a reieasingplate having sleeves disposed 1n the vertical plane of said bars, and means for mov-- 8. The combination with a plurality of upright hanger bars each having a recess' opening on its lower end and one of its sides and provided with a chamber opening 0n said recess, each bar having a resiliently mounted catch normally projecting outwardly of said recess, of a releasing-plate provided with sleeves and adapted to have an upward movement to permitI its sleeves to engage in the recesses for moving the catches into the chambers of the hanger bars.

9. The combina-tion with a plurality of upright hanger bars each being provided with a. chamber and having a recess opening on its side and lower end and having a convergent, resiliently mounted catch normally projecting outwardly from said recess, of a carriage below said hanger. bars, a releasing-plate provided with sleeves and mounted on the carriage, and means for eievating said plate, its sleeves engaging in the recesses of said bars to move the catches into said chambers inwardly of said recesses. 4

10'. The combination with a-plurality of upright hanger bars each being provided with a catch member, of a carriage below said bars, a. releasing-plate, an operating shaft having reversely threaded end portions, nuts provided with trunnions and mounted on the threaded end portions of the shaft, toggle-bars mounted on the trunnions and pivotally connected with the releasingplate, toggle-bars mounted on said trunnions -and pivotally connected with the frame of the carriage, said shaft being revoluble for actuating the toggle-bars, the releasingplate moving upwardly for engaging the catch-members of said hanger-bars.

11. The combination with a plurality of upright hanger bars each being provided with a catch member for engaging a load, and a pair of supporting plates disposed in a plane below said hanger bars, of a carriage provided with skid-blocks and disposed between the supporting-plates, a pair of carriers movable on the supporting-plates, stoplevers pivotally mounted on the carriage, means for moving the releasing-plate into engagement with the hanger-bars for causing disengagement of the catch-members from the load to permit said load tomove upon the skid-blocks into engagement with the stop levers, and means to disengage the stop-levers from the load to permit said load to move upon said carriers.

12. A1n an unloading machine for loaded hanger sections, a carriage, a releasing member on said carriage, and means for moving said releasingvmember Ainto position torelease the load.

13.' Invan unloading machine for loaded hanger sections, a carriage,'a reciprocably movable releasing member associated with said carriage, andmeans associated with said carriage for reciprocating said releasing-member to release the load.

14. A machine for unloading loaded sections of the class described, comprising a carriage movable along Vsaid Sections, a 'releasing member-,associated with said carriage, and means yassociated with said carriage to project and retract said releasing l various sections.

15. A machine for unloading loaded sections of the class described, comprising a carriage movable along said sections, skidbloclzs on said carriage adapted to be positioned with its operating edge in substantial alinement with one edge of one of said sections, a releasing member' on said carriage, and means for moving the releasing member to release the load to move across said skid-blocks.

16. A machine for unloading loaded lumber supporting sections in which the lumber is held against descent by retainingmeans, comprising a carriage, a reciprocable releasing member on said carriage, means for projecting and retracting said releasing member, 'and means for guiding said lumber in its descent by gravity from said sections upon removal from its retaining position of said retaining means.

17. A machine for unloading loaded lumber supporting sections in which the lumber is held against descent by retaining means, comprisingl a carriage, a reciprocable releasing member on said carriage, means for projecting and retracting said releasing member, and means for guiding said lumber in its descent by gravity from said sections upon removal from its retaining position of said retaining 'means, and releasable stop means associated with said guiding means to square up the lumber with relation to said carriage.

18. 1n a machine for unloading loaded lumber supporting sections in which the lumber is held by releasable retaining means, a conveyor longitudinally movable along the ends of said supporting sections, a carriage movable adjacent and longitudinally of said conveyor, a releasing member on said carriage, means for projecting said releasing member to enable release of said load, and guiding means for smoothly guiding the released lumber from the supporting sections to the conveyor.

19. 1n :1. machine for unloading loaded lumber supporting sections in which the lumber is held by releasable retaining means, a conveyor longitudinally movable along the ends of said supporting sections, a carriage movable adjacent and longitudinally of said conveyor, a releasing member on said carriage, means for projecting said releasing member to enable release of said load, and guiding means for smoothly guiding the released lumber from the supporting sections to the conveyor, and means associatedy with said guiding means to square up the lumber with relation to the conveyor before permitting it -to move thereonto.

20. In a machine for unloading loaded lumber supporting sections in which the lumber is held by releasable retaining means, a carriage movable in to unloading position with relation to said sections individually, a releasing member on said carriage, mechanism to operate said releasing member, and means forV securely holding said carriage in unloading position opposite any of the sections desired.

2l. In apparatus for unloading loaded lumber supporting sections in which the lumber is held by releasable retaining means, a carriage movable along the ends of said sections, a member on said carriage movable towards and-away from said sections to enable releasing of the load therein, a conveyor movable along the ends of the sections independently of said carriage, skid-blocks on the carriage for guiding the released lumber from any section desired without abrupt shock to the conveyor, means associated with said skid-blocks for squaring the released lumber with relation tothe conveyor before permitting the same to pass thereonto, and means to securely maintain said carriage in operative position opposite any one of the sections desired.

22. In apparatus for unloading loaded sections, skid-blocks for smoothly guiding the unloaded material downwardly from said sections, and means associated with the skid-blocks to square up the lumber with relation thereto.

23. In apparatus for unloading loaded sec-tions, skid-blocks for smoothly guiding the unloaded material downwardly from said sections, and means associated with the skid-blocks to square up the lumber with relation thereto, and means for releasing the squaring up means to permit the unloaded material to pass on.

24. In apparatus for unloading supporting sections having lumber loaded vertically edgewise therein, means for releasing the load, and means for smoothly guiding the released lumber from a vertical to a horizontal position.

25. In unloading apparatus for unloading lumber from depending hanger-bars, a carriage movable along the ends of said hangerbars, asliding plate vertically reciprocable on said carriage to enable release of the lumber loaded on any hanger-bar, mechanism for reciprocating said plate, a carrier plate on each side of said carriage, a conveyor on each of the carrier plates, skid-blocks on the carriage for guiding the released lumber from the'hanger-bars to the conveyor, means for bringing the released lumber into a position at right angles to the conveyorbefore it reaches the same comprising a lever having an upstanding lug adjacent the lower end of each skid-block to permit the lumber to pass to the conveyor when squared, and means for selectively locking the carriage in position forunloading any section of said hanger-bars desired.

26. The method ci unloading lumber from loaded supporting sections in which the lumber is held by retaining means, which consists in applying sufficient power to enable release of the retaining means, permitting. the lumber to descend from the sections by gravity, and during the descent smoothly guiding the lumber by positive means from vertical edgewise position to horizontal position. I

27. The method of unloading lumber from loaded supporting sections in which the lumber is held by retaining means, which consists in applying sufficient power to enable release of the retaining means, permitting the lumber to descend from the sections by gravity, and during the descent smoothly guiding the lumber by positive means from vertical edgewise position to horizontal position onto a conveyor, and during such descent bringing to a momentary stop the descending pieces to square them up with a conveyor, and then releasing them to pass on to the conveyor.

28. The method of unloading lumber or the like from upright hanger bars provided with catches adapted to normally project under the load to support the same, which consists in moving a power element upwardly into contact with said catches to move the same laterally away from beneath said load, permitting the load to descend by gravity, and during the descent guiding the individual pieces of lumber smoothly from vertical edgewise position to horizontal position.

" 29. The step in the unloading of lumber from loaded upright hanger-bars to conveyors which consists in squaring up the descending lumber with relation to the conveyor before the lumber reaches the conveyor.

In witness whereof I hereunto my name to this specification.

ROBERT Z. rBRAKE.

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